BACKGROUND Septic incomplete miscarriages remain a cause of maternal deaths in South Africa. There was an initial decline in mortality when a strict protocol based approach and the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act in South Africa were implemented in this country. However, a recent unpublished audit at the Pretoria Academic Complex (Kalafong and Steve Biko Academic Hospitals) suggested tha...

Substandard care is reported to occur in a large number of cases of major obstetric haemorrhage (MOH). A prospective audit was carried out by a multidisciplinary team at our hospital over a one year period to assess the quality of care (QOC) delivered to women experiencing MOH. MOH was defined according to criteria outlined in the Scottish Audit of Maternal Morbidity (SAMM). 31 cases were ident...

OBJECTIVES To test the hypothesis that low risk women at the onset of labour with planned home birth have a higher rate of severe acute maternal morbidity than women with planned hospital birth, and to compare the rate of postpartum haemorrhage and manual removal of placenta. DESIGN Cohort study using a linked dataset. SETTING Information on all cases of severe acute maternal morbidity in t...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of severe acute maternal morbitidy and identify its associated hospital procedures. METHODS Data from the Hospital Information System, obtained from the Municipal Secretariat of Health of the city of Juiz de Fora, Southeastern Brazil, for the years 2006 and 2007, were used. The studied women included those admitted to the hospital for obstetric procedures ...